RDP Seminar Pierre-Marc Delaux

Evolution of Plant Symbioses

RDP seminar by Pierre-Marc Delaux from the Laboratoire de Recherches en Sciences Végétales (Toulouse, France)

Abstract
The plant lineage faced two major transitions over the last 450 million years : the colonization of lands and the transition from a gametophyte- to a sporophyte-dominant lifestyle, resulting in the divergence of vascular plants. These two events required the evolution of new mechanisms and the recruitment of existing pathways in a new developmental context. The fossil record and its broad host range suggest that the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal symbiosis evolved in first land plants and was one of the critical innovations that allowed plants to successfully colonize lands. Interestingly, while new developmental features evolved, such as the roots in Lycophytes and Euphyllophytes, AM symbiosis has been recruited and maintained. Studying the evolution of AM symbiosis in land plants thus offers a unique opportunity to understand how key innovations evolve and are recruited during plant evolution. I will present our recent progress on this topic using combinations of comparative phylogenomics and functional analyses in multiple species.

Date : Wednesday, February 7th
Time : 11am
Location : Salle des Thèses

Selected publications
 Delaux et al. PNAS 2015 doi : 10.1073/pnas.1515426112
 Delaux et al. PloS Genetics 2014 doi : 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004487

RDP host : Yoan Coudert

Evènement(s) associé(s)